Seeing mum's car in the driveway made my empty stomach gurgle with intense anxiety, god I really don't want to deal with this right now, I don't want to hear her calling me a liar,I don't want to have to go over the traumatic things that happened and I don't want to think about the court date which me and dad haven't been told of yet.
As I open the door to the house I hear yelling instantly and smell a strong whiff of vodka and rum, sighing as I enter the living room and see my dad scratching his head in frustration, and my mum stood arms crossed with a suitcase beside her.
"She screams in her sleep at night, He can't be in this house!" My dad shakes his head to mum "we can't afford the rent in town! Besides this is my house too!"
"Emma he can't be here! He'd be violating the court case" I see my mums eyes roll at my dad's words
but as she goes to respond her eyes shift suddenly to me.
She looks very tired,dark panda like eyes, wrinkled downturns lips and her hair looks as though she hasn't washed or brushed it in weeks.
"Ellie..." she speaks in a hush soft tone, my dad's head turns to me in surprise as he acknowledges my presence.
"Mum" I want to hug her after not seeing her for weeks, I want to yell at her for the horrible texts and choosing my brother over me,but instead I stand there doe eyeds taking in my mums dishevelled state. "Ellie you look.." my mum stumbles a little over to me inspecting my body and shifting her neck up and down "your just bones!" Her eyebrows upturn in shock and concern as she looks angrily at my dad, "are you not watching her at meal times!? She looks like she's barely eaten" my dad rubs his forehead and shakes his head, I ignore her comments about my body and start to feel fear set over me "mum if your here,where's Eli?" I panic looking around in apprehension, mum rolls her eyes and sighs in annoyance before staring down my dad, "they were just leaving,he's upstairs but your safe with me ellie" my dad moves over to me and reaches his hand to rub my back but I flinch and throw up my hands and then he steps backwards to give me some space.
"This is ridiculous. You used to love your brother, you two were thick as thieves when you were younger...why all this now ellie" mum shrugs and the annoyed tone in her voice angers me "why? Because of what he did mum. Why,why don't you believe me!" I scream the last words and the look in her eye for a second has me doubting what she really believes, I know she's drunk but she looks sorry,like maybe she knows I'm telling the truth and the guilt of not seeing it is hurting her,or maybe eli was right that people wouldn't believe me after all. My dad must notice something too because he straights up his spine and leans towards my mum "Emma..." he speaks quietly looking over his shoulder back at me in pity "did you know before? Did you see,hear,or-" my dad's whispering words are cut off quickly as my mum starts to tear up "Stop it!" She yells in tears "Stop it! I'm not a bad mum! Ofcourse I wouldn't have allowed...".
Seeing my mums sudden change and that look,the look of guilt makes me feel a mixture of sadness, confusion and anger "mum,did you know?" I can barely speak the words because what hurts more, having my mum not believe me,or knowing she knew what my brother was doing to me and just didn't speak up. "ELI! WERE LEAVING,HURRY DOWN!" She shouts in a fit of drunken anger and cries towards the stairs and starts to pull her suitcase out of the house. "Mum!" I yell out to her, "Did you know!" Now I'm crying through words and my dad looks just as upset.
At the bottom of the stairs infront of the front door I grab my mums wrist gently and she stops lugging her suitcase to instead look at my teary eyes through her smudged eyeliner "im sorry" she cries and before I can say more Eli runs down the stairs, a small bag of things in his hands "sorry I had to get some things" he huffs out to mum before locking his eyes with mine "f-from my room" he stutters nervously as though he's been caught doing something wrong and I take a step back from my mum wanting to create some distance now that Eli is stood right beside her. I feel my dad step right beside me and give me a nod to reassure me I'm safe, "are you okay?" Eli looks at me the same way my mum did not long ago,in concern "are you okay? Are you eating oka-"
"Don't talk to her." My dad interrupts eli swiftly and gives him a stern look to which Eli rubs his neck awkwardly and looks at mum.
"Right that's enough,we're going,but you need to send me some money for your son" mum points to dad sharply before leaving out the door just as fast.
Eli stands frozen for a moment and flicks his eyes from me to our dad "don't be going anywhere, your needed in court soon." My dad narrows his eyes to my brother but he just toses his head "with what evidence?" His smugness makes his question seem more like a statement and as he goes to leave I turn to my dad "Dad! Mums been drinking will you drive them home it's not safe"
My dad nods understandably and ushers my brother out the door to take him and mum to where they're staying.
I feel a little crazy saying it,but I'm worried about my brother, my abuser, I'm worried about my mums drinking and how it could get eli hurt.
But as I watch mums car drive away into the distance there is one big thing on my mind...did she know all this time?
YOU ARE READING
My Brother.
Short StoryChapters out at least once a week. A dark story about being abused by twin brother and escaping it. Trigger warning for abuse in this story. This was difficult to go through so please don't read this or continue to read this if it could trigger you.
